January 14, 2016

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”
Jeremiah 29:11

NEWS

Robin Collins, distinguished professor and chair of the philosophy department in the School of the Humanities has just been awarded a grant for his project, “The Fine-tuning for Scientific Discovery.” The project involves completing the work he has done in the last five years showing that the fundamental parameters of physics – such as the mass of the proton – fall within an extremely small range of values that are optimal for the development of technology and the discovering of the universe. He calls this the “fine-tuning for discoverability.” Such fine-tuning implies that the universe is providentially structured for beings like us to do science and thus has profound philosophical and theological implications. The $217,000 grant is over a three-year period, beginning June 2016. It provides release time to complete a technical book focused on cases of this fine-tuning in particle physics (since this area of physics provides the strongest support for his thesis), several substantial articles on non-particle physics cases, a popular book on the topic, substantial summer stipend support for Messiah College physicist Abaz Kryemadhi to help him with the physics, along with honorarium money for other experts to review the work.

MESSIAH 411

Senior class leaves lights as legacy

This year, the senior class is leaving their legacy by lighting the Swinging Bridge. The Office of Annual Giving and Senior Class Gift Committee would like to thank the Department of Biblical and Religious Studies for kicking off their efforts! Each year the Department of Biblical and Religious Studies honors their seniors with a dinner, followed by an auction of donated items from the BRS faculty offices. The bidding is lively and fun with proceeds benefiting the senior class gift. This year the contribution was $1,039. Thank you faculty and students for your generosity and investment! To learn more about the Class of 2016’s class gift, click here .

2016 MLK Commemoration Week

The Intercultural Office – Multicultural Programs is proud to present the 2016 MLK Commemoration series beginning Friday, Jan. 15- Wednesday, Jan. 20. It is the College’s goal to reflect on the vision and Christian ministry of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. for the purpose of encouraging and cultivating a deeper commitment to be God’s agents of justice, peace and reconciliation. For all the details on the week’s events, visit www.messiah.edu/mlk or see the attached poster.

Call for Nominations

Call for nominations – 2016 Alumni Awards
We need your help in identify deserving recipients for the 2016 Alumni Awards. The deadline for award nomination is Jan. 20.

Young Alumnus/a Achievement Award: This award recognizes an alumnus/a who has attended Messiah College within the past 15 years for significant contribution to church, vocation, community and/or Messiah College.

Distinguished Alumnus/a Achievement Award: This award recognizes long-term vocational excellence in a manner supportive of the mission and standards of Messiah.

Alumni Christian Service Award: This award recognizes outstanding lifelong service or long-term effort in fulfilling the mandates of the Christian gospel to both serve and sacrifice for the needs of humanity.

Alumni Appreciation Award: Alumni and friends are eligible for this award, which recognizes significant personal service and contribution to Messiah College. This is the only award that can go to a non-Messiah alum.

The following three links should be very helpful:
Previous Alumni Award Winners
Alumni Award Descriptions
Nominate an Alum

Networking breakfast – “Entrepreneurship Takes a Team: Building an Invested Community”

“Entrepreneurship Takes a Team: Building an Invested Community”
Date: Wednesday, Feb. 17
Schedule: 7-7:30 a.m., registration and networking; 7:30 a.m.- 9 a.m., event speaker; 9 a.m., event concludes, guests are encouraged to stay and network
Location: Eden Resort & Suites • 222 Eden Road, Lancaster PA 17601-4216
Cost and registration: $15; register at http://attend.com/MCBAF2016

Speaker: Peter Greer, Messiah College alumnus and entrepreneur-in-residence and President and CEO of Hope International, knows well the power of teams for entrepreneurship. As Hope has supported budding businesses around the world, Greer has repeatedly seen that a new enterprise’s success depends on the contributions of many—from those who birth an idea, to those who develop the business concept, to those who finance and implement it.
This event is OPEN TO EVERYONE! Please feel free to invite a guest.

Important ITS News

There are a number of new articles that may be of interest located on the ITS blog at helpdesk.messiah.edu. Please take a look and enjoy the new information.

OneDrive – You may have heard about OneDrive, but maybe you’re unsure what this is or how this works. There is information located on our blog about OneDrive. Start with http://blogs.messiah.edu/its/question/what-is-onedrive, and click “Next Articles” to continue reading about OneDrive. If you have further questions regarding OneDrive, please feel free to contact the HelpDesk at ext. 4444.

Firefox – If you are having issues with Canvas or using Firefox on a PC (not Mac), you may have an outdated version of Firefox. To update your version, please follow the blog article http://blogs.messiah.edu/its/archives/6226. Firefox should be on the list of applications to install.

Windows 10 Upgrades – At this time, ITS has not determined when Windows 10 will start to be utilized by Messiah College. We are currently not aware of any Messiah applications requiring this operating system. Please do not attempt to upgrade to Windows 10 on your Messiah assigned computer. Watch for updates on the ITS blog at helpdesk.messiah.edu.

El Capitan for Mac Users – Your computer may be prompting for an Operating System upgrade. Please check the blog article http://blogs.messiah.edu/its/archives/6510 for more information.

On-site Microsoft Word training – seats available for this Tuesday, Jan. 19!

Human Resources is sponsoring an on-site professional development opportunity for administrative support staff and we have room available to accommodate others. A training professional from Fred Pryor will cover Microsoft Word topics on Tuesday, Jan. 19. The morning session will run from 8:30-11:30 a.m., followed by an afternoon session from 1-4 p.m. Topics covered will include bulleted lists, styles and themes, outlining, table of contents, end and foot notes, merging, macros, forms creation and tables.

Preference will be given to those who are able to commit to both sessions. There will be a $20 charge to your department to help defray the cost of the training. Please contact Kathy Castonguay, Human Resources and Compliance, to inquire about participation.

CLASSIFIEDS

For Sale:
Soda Stream Source sparkling water maker – purchased in December and used only a few times. Paid $100, selling for $70. Please contact lprice@messiah.edu or 515-9934 if interested.

Wanted:
Gently used clothing for Boys 4T and Girls 5T or 6x. Please notify trader@messiah.edu with information.

Job Opportunities:
Campus Events currently has an opening for the position of Campus Events Worker I –3rd Shift. For additional details and to apply, please see: http://jobs.messiah.edu/postings/7755
Job-related questions may be directed to Scott Zeigler, campus events manager, at szeigler@messiah.edu or by dialing ext. 2940.

The Murray Library has an upcoming opening for the position of Librarian/Collection Development Coordinator. For additional information and to apply, please see: http://jobs.messiah.edu/postings/7757
Job-related questions may be directed to Jonathan Lauer, director of the Murray Library, at jlauer@messiah.edu.

The Collaboratory for Strategic Partnerships and Applied Research has an opening for the position of Engineering Project Manager.  For additional information and to apply please see:  http://jobs.messiah.edu/postings/7776. Job-related questions may be directed to David Vader, professor of engineering, at dvader@messiah.edu.